PFT’s Week Six picks

Five weeks in to the annual competition, MDS has stretched his lead to six games.

But I won’t quit. I won’t surrender. I won’t give in.

In part because it really doesn’t require much effort. As my performance through five weeks shows.

This week, we disagree on two games. For all of our Week Six picks, scroll away.

Eagles at Panthers

MDS’s take: The Eagles are probably a better all-around team than the Panthers, but Cam Newton is getting things turned around, and on a short week I think Philadelphia’s defense is going to struggle to game plan for him. Newton will have a big night both running and passing, and Carolina will win a close one.

MDS’s pick: Panthers 24, Eagles 23.

Florio’s take: The Eagles’ fortunes turned last year once Lane Johnson began a PED suspension. He’s out with a concussion this week, and that could be just enough to make the difference when two of the best teams in the NFC get together under the lights.

Florio’s pick: Panthers 24, Eagles 20.

Bears at Ravens

MDS’s take: The Bears made the right move benching Mike Glennon for Mitch Trubisky, but the Bears have a lot more problems than a quarterback can solve. The Ravens should win easily on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Ravens 20, Bears 9.

Florio’s take: If the Ravens hope to contend this year, they need to take care of teams that are overmatched. The Bears are overmatched, and operating on a short week.

Florio’s pick: Ravens 17, Bears 10.

Browns at Texans

MDS’s take: In a league where parity reigns, the Browns somehow find a way not to regress toward the mean: They were 3-13 in 2015, 1-15 in 2016 and look worse than ever in 2017. The Texans, after a loss full of devastating injuries on Sunday, will bounce back easily.

Florio’s take: The Vikings are improving but the Packers are the Packers as they make their first of possible two visits this season to U.S. Bank Stadium.

Florio’s pick: Packers 27, Vikings 17.

Lions at Saints

MDS’s take: Matthew Stafford is the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, but he hasn’t played like anything close to the best quarterback in the NFL. He might put up big numbers against a suspect Saints secondary, but Drew Brees will have a better day and the Saints will win.

MDS’s pick: Saints 30, Lions 24.

Florio’s take: Matthew Stafford is hobbled and the Saints are surprisingly stout on defense. And so the team that could have been 4-0 is in danger of falling to .500.

Florio’s pick: Saints 27, Lions 20.

Dolphins at Falcons

MDS’s take: Jay Cutler has been a mess this season, and you have to wonder why the Dolphins didn’t just go with Matt Moore after Ryan Tannehill went down. Those questions will intensify when the Dolphins lose another one on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Falcons 28, Dolphins 14.

Florio’s take: The Dolphins may be getting close to getting hot, but this is a bad week to begin the effort. The Falcons are rested and getting healthy and the Dolphins aren’t ready to outscore them.

Florio’s pick: Falcons 26, Dolphins 17.

Patriots at Jets

MDS’s take: No one expected the Jets to be playing for first place in the AFC East in Week Six. Todd Bowles has done a good job putting his team in this position, but they’re not going to beat the Patriots with the division lead on the line.

MDS’s pick: Patriots 28, Jets 17.

Florio’s take: The Jets have been impressive this year, but the Patriots are still the Patriots, and they’re getting better on the fly. Like they always do.

Florio’s pick: Patriots 30 Jets 20.

49ers at Washington

MDS’s take: The winless 49ers will remain winless. This is the easiest pick of the day.

MDS’s pick: Washington 30, 49ers 10.

Florio’s take: Kyle Shanahan returns to D.C. with a team that is better than 0-5 would suggest, but not nearly good enough to outscore a rested Washington team.

Florio’s pick: Washington 24, 49ers 13.

Buccaneers at Cardinals

MDS’s take: If there’s one prediction I can state with confidence, it’s that Adrian Peterson won’t make a difference in Arizona. The Cardinals are heading in the wrong direction.

MDS’s pick: Buccaneers 20, Cardinals 14.

Florio’s take: Adrian Peterson won’t make enough of a difference after only a few days with the team. The Bucs are simply better on both sides of the ball.

Florio’s pick: Buccaneers 27, Cardinals 14.

Rams at Jaguars

MDS’s take: I don’t think many people thought before the season that Rams-Jaguars in Week Six would be one of the best games of the day, but it is. I like the Jaguars to slow down the game with their running offense and win a low-scoring one.

MDS’s pick: Jaguars 14, Rams 13.

Florio’s take: The win-one, lose-one Jags are due to lose one. And since the Rams have the defense to take away the running game and the Jaguars don’t have the passing game to take advantage of it, the trend holds again.

Florio’s pick: Rams 20, Jaguars 13.

Steelers at Chiefs

MDS’s take: The Chiefs are running away from the rest of the league, and they’ll continue to do it on Sunday, as Kareem Hunt has a big day against a suspect Steelers run defense.

MDS’s pick: Chiefs 28, Steelers 20.

Florio’s take: The Steelers return to the site of their playoff win, ready to prove wrong the doubters. And by “doubters” I mean those who actually heard and reacted to the doubts created by players like Ben Roethlisberger. Look for everyone to buckle down and focus on trying to get the offense clicking in a way it hasn’t clicked all year.

Florio’s pick: Steelers 24, Chiefs 20.

Chargers at Raiders

MDS’s take: The Raiders’ defense has been a mess this year, and it’s going to keep them out of the playoffs. I’m tempted to pick the Chargers to pull the upset, but they seem to have a knack for finding ways to lose winnable games, so I think the Raiders win a close one.

MDS’s pick: Raiders 28, Chargers 27.

Florio’s take: Derek Carr intends to return, and the Raiders need to reverse a three-game losing streak. Especially with a Thursday night visit from the Chiefs looming.

Florio’s pick: Raiders 27, Chargers 20.

Giants at Broncos

MDS’s take: The winless Giants in prime time may result in a one-sided game that’s over by halftime. There’s just no way the injury-plagued Giants offense does anything against the strong Broncos defense.

MDS’s pick: Broncos 21, Giants 7.

Florio’s take: If the Giants win this one, it would be a bigger upset than Super Bowl XLII.

Florio’s pick: Broncos 30, Giants 13.

Colts at Titans

MDS’s take: Even if Marcus Mariota can’t go on Monday night, the Titans should beat a bad Colts team, whose only wins are against winless opponents.

MDS’s pick: Titans 17, Colts 13.

Florio’s take: Will Marcus Mariota be back? Will it matter, given that Andrew Luck isn’t?

I would generally always pick the Thursday night home team, but I don’t recall Cam playing well against the Eagles in the past. Lane Johnson? I think the difference will be weather or not Fletcher Cox can go.

Does it matter if Mariota are back? Have you seen my boys playing? Have you seen my coaches? The answer is no, it doesn’t matter … because we will lose no matter what.

If Mariota plays:
Mariota will be 3 of 7 for 48 yards and a pick, then injured. Cassel will come in and go 17 or 28 for 14 yards and 6 picks.

If Mariota doesn’t play:
Cassel will fill in and go 17 of 18 for 14 yards and 6 picks. Weeden will come in and be Weeden.

Regardless of the QB:
Our defense will allow the QB that started the year as the 3rd string emergency QB on this team to go 25 of 27 for 598 yards and 17 TDs. Then, Mularkey will forget how many timeouts he has left and not challenge 2 plays that would both be easily overturned and swing the game 14 points in the Colts direction during a time when the game is still winnable, thus effectively giving up on the team and forfeiting the game.

Big pack guy here. This game scares me, over-confidence has always been MacArthurs MO. Rogers chockes in big games, as good as he his. Hope I’m wrong but I think we loose handily this week. Vike’s defense is legit and ours is a joke. Go pack

My pick for trap game of the week: Jets/Patriots. I could see the Jets pulling one off here. I could also see the Pats hanging a 50 burger on them. With the Pats defense (would not be ranked in the top 50 in the FBS defensive rankings) I could also see the Jets putting up 40 points. IF the Pats stumble at all, I think Jets win.

In what way are the Vikings improving? They lost their starting quarterback, apparently for the season. They lost their dynamic running back for the season. There’s a good chance Diggs won’t play this weekend. It’s hard to say they’re improving. That doesn’t mean they can’t beat the Packers, but I would have given them a better chance before the season started.

I might be wrong but I get the feel that tonight’s game will be a bit of defensive struggle. Both teams have good defensive fronts, we’ll see. Hopefully, it’ll be a decent game, wish it were on Sunday though.

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The home Broncos opened as a 9 point favorite over the winless Giants. It quickly ballooned to 12. There’s no logical case to be made for Denver not covering handily. Except, perhaps, that New York is the more desperate team and doesn’t want to be humiliated on national TV. In short, it has all the makings of a “suckers bet”, a line too good to be true.
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dawgzzxx says:
October 12, 2017 at 10:53 am
Hey Mike, remember Randall Cunningham how wonderful he was in the beginning until the NFL defenses caught up with him…
Deshaun Watson???
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Cunningham made the Pro Bowl 4 times, was a 2-time first team All Pro and was League MVP in 1990. He was comeback Player of the Year and won the Bert Bell Award 3 times.

Viking fan here, and while I agree that the Packers should win, Rodgers is only 4-4 against Zimmer led defenses in his career. Strong Packer offense against a strong Viking defense and an average Packer defense against an average Viking offense.

The Steelers problems are many right now, and there seems to be some dissension on that team. If Houston and Kelce are out with injuries, that could make a difference, but I still see the Chiefs continuing on their roll…

The Packers probably should be favored this weekend. But, as it’s a home game for the Vikings, I’m expecting a pretty good and tight game. It absolutely could come down to whoever has the ball last. And as we’ve seen before, I hope it isn’t that Rodgers guy.

I was very excited for this Vikings game at the beginning of the season. Now, I’m just hoping that we don’t look like a patsy! Rodgers is doing typical Rodgers things, and our offense looks anemic. Here’s hoping for an upset!

Although I think Andy Reid is a great coach, sooner or later Andy Reid the play caller is going to pull an Andy Reid. which means that when everything is going right, and their is no sign that it is about to go bad, he’ll try to outsmart his opponent and change things up (before he needs to). and it won’t work.

I don’t know what to think about the Vikings/Pack game. I can still see it going either way. If the Vike’s Oline plays well then they’ll have a chance. The Vikings defense is solid, but GB should still put up at least 20. The offense has to be aggressive knowing they will have to score a lot. With all the injuries, I’m not sure where the production comes from.

“Although I think Andy Reid is a great coach, sooner or later Andy Reid the play caller is going to pull an Andy Reid. which means that when everything is going right, and their is no sign that it is about to go bad, he’ll try to outsmart his opponent and change things up (before he needs to). and it won’t work.”

MDS’s take: I’m not even sure it matters whether Sam Bradford or Case Keenum starts for the Vikings. I like Aaron Rodgers to have a big day against the Vikings’ defense.

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I come here for the laughs but this one takes the cake. This is a match up of strength vs strength. The Packers could very well win this game if a healthy Bradford isn’t available. But even with Keenum, the weakest unit on the field is the Packers defense. The Vikings are capable of scoring 28-35 with Keenum. I doubt the Vikings defense gives up that many points.

Question is, will the Bills win the Bye week and come back strong enough to compete down the stretch. They have essentially the worst offense in the NFL and the best defense in the NFL. If they cant correct the first, the second wont get them too far

Although I think Andy Reid is a great coach, sooner or later Andy Reid the play caller is going to pull an Andy Reid. which means that when everything is going right, and their is no sign that it is about to go bad, he’ll try to outsmart his opponent and change things up (before he needs to). and it won’t work.

Not sure when it will happen, but it will happen.
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Oh well. Belichick does the same thing, and it doesn’t always work for him, either.

tjacks7 says:
October 12, 2017 at 12:28 pm
MDS’s take: I’m not even sure it matters whether Sam Bradford or Case Keenum starts for the Vikings. I like Aaron Rodgers to have a big day against the Vikings’ defense.

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I come here for the laughs but this one takes the cake. This is a match up of strength vs strength. The Packers could very well win this game if a healthy Bradford isn’t available. But even with Keenum, the weakest unit on the field is the Packers defense. The Vikings are capable of scoring 28-35 with Keenum. I doubt the Vikings defense gives up that many points.

meccalambeaufield3 says:
October 12, 2017 at 10:33 am
Ouch! That prognostication by Florio of the Packers playing 2 games in Minnesota this season is going to have Viking fans searching for their safe places.
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Actually, it doesn’t faze most of us one bit. The packers have been predicted to the win the super bowl by the “experts” and their fans every year since Rodgers has been the starter. And most years, the Packers choke.

Will be at the Vikes/Pack game cheering on my team, but I fear my team’s good defense can’t overcome it’s mediocre offense, while the Pack’s very good offense and HOFer Rodgers can overcome their below average defense.

Not much boasting on here by Viking fans, but I’m sure come Sunday if the Pack wins, the cheesers will be harping about how Viking fans did exactly that.

purpleguy says:
October 12, 2017 at 1:04 pm
Will be at the Vikes/Pack game cheering on my team, but I fear my team’s good defense can’t overcome it’s mediocre offense, while the Pack’s very good offense and HOFer Rodgers can overcome their below average defense.

Not much boasting on here by Viking fans, but I’m sure come Sunday if the Pack wins, the cheesers will be harping about how Viking fans did exactly that.
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Your first mistake is dismissing a defense at least as effective as the Vikings’. You’ll see, and then you’ll grit your teeth and believe.

It would be nice if the refs called a fair game for once.
Rodgers can’t escape everything without the help of the yellow zebras.

An upset would be great however to shut up the most obnoxious fanbase in the history of sports.

If you watched last week, they highlighted two plays where the Cowboys center was called for holding in two separate games. It was hilarious. You’ll see the Packers get away with that exact kind of hold at last 5 times on Sunday. And I’m sure they’ll call it ‘great blocking’.

Frazier28/7 says:
October 12, 2017 at 1:29 pm
It would be nice if the refs called a fair game for once.
Rodgers can’t escape everything without the help of the yellow zebras.

An upset would be great however to shut up the most obnoxious fanbase in the history of sports.

If you watched last week, they highlighted two plays where the Cowboys center was called for holding in two separate games. It was hilarious. You’ll see the Packers get away with that exact kind of hold at last 5 times on Sunday. And I’m sure they’ll call it ‘great blocking’.
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Geez, with all the praise the Packers get, you would think that they have been to the Super Bowl the past 5 years. Nope, not even once. The Patriots on the other hand have been to the Superbowl 3 times while Rodgers has sat at home bitching and complaining about his defense. Poor Packer fans. Enjoy watching the New England Patriots play the next NFC hot team in the Superbowl while sitting next door in Wisconsin sucking down beer and cheese. LOL #discountdoublechoke #BradyistherealGOAT

Patriots 24 Jets 14 I think the Jets will start off strong, but will turn the ball over late in the game. Then some short range passing to Dion Lewis and Danny Amendola opens the game up for the Pats to get the win. My lock of the week is Chiefs over the Steelers 31 to 20. Finally, my upset of the week is Eagles over Panthers 20 to 13.

Fact: The Titans haven’t beaten the Colts since 2011. They’ve lost to the Colts without Andrew Luck before. And oh yeah, the Titans are terrible this year. So this is definitely looking like a loss for the Titans. And I’m a Titans fan…

Lol why are you guys debating Randall Cunningham’s career? He was an impact player from 88-90. Everything he did after that was completely forgettable, even that outlier year he posted with the Vikings in 1998.

Will be at the Vikes/Pack game cheering on my team, but I fear my team’s good defense can’t overcome it’s mediocre offense, while the Pack’s very good offense and HOFer Rodgers can overcome their below average defense.

Not much boasting on here by Viking fans, but I’m sure come Sunday if the Pack wins, the cheesers will be harping about how Viking fans did exactly that.
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Your first mistake is dismissing a defense at least as effective as the Vikings’. You’ll see, and then you’ll grit your teeth and believe.
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Zimmer will have the Vikes D ready to play (if they follow his gameplan) and present several challenges to Rodgers with disguised looks. Eventually Rodgers will figure it all out and hit some big plays. Don’t be surprised when the GB defense comes up with some timely sacks and a pick or two late. Pack 34 Vikes 23

Frazier28/7 says:
October 12, 2017 at 1:29 pm
It would be nice if the refs called a fair game for once.
Rodgers can’t escape everything without the help of the yellow zebras.

An upset would be great however to shut up the most obnoxious fanbase in the history of sports.

If you watched last week, they highlighted two plays where the Cowboys center was called for holding in two separate games. It was hilarious. You’ll see the Packers get away with that exact kind of hold at last 5 times on Sunday. And I’m sure they’ll call it ‘great blocking’.
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I honestly enjoy the jabs between Vike and Packer fans as most are intelligent, and sometimes very clever ones. But anyone who really believes there is a conspiracy theory and the NFL has referees purposely helping the Packers is crazy. Let’s get one thing straight about NFL Refs. It’s all over the board. Good, then bad, then a make up call, then bad again. We all see things differently, but come on man….. I want to jab back but this theory is junk. Please go blog with your fellow “never landed on Moon”, “NBA draft lottery rigged”, and “MLB baseballs are juiced” guys.

You won’t be missed. To the rest of the common sense Viking fans…. bring it. Can’t wait for the weekend.

djvh2 says:
October 12, 2017 at 11:34 am
“The Vikings are improving but the Packers are the Packers as they make their first of possible two visits this season to U.S. Bank Stadium.”

Wow, this will make Viking fans heads explode. The truth hurts. The Vikings will need to play a lot better than they did vs Da Bears, and will need a game plan that the players adhere to.
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Wow. Without Rodgers the Cheeseheads are the NY Giants

gbpackersfan12 says:
October 12, 2017 at 3:44 pm
Frazier28/7 says:
October 12, 2017 at 1:29 pm
It would be nice if the refs called a fair game for once.
Rodgers can’t escape everything without the help of the yellow zebras.

An upset would be great however to shut up the most obnoxious fanbase in the history of sports.

If you watched last week, they highlighted two plays where the Cowboys center was called for holding in two separate games. It was hilarious. You’ll see the Packers get away with that exact kind of hold at last 5 times on Sunday. And I’m sure they’ll call it ‘great blocking’.
_______________________________________________________________________________

I honestly enjoy the jabs between Vike and Packer fans as most are intelligent, and sometimes very clever ones. But anyone who really believes there is a conspiracy theory and the NFL has referees purposely helping the Packers is crazy. Let’s get one thing straight about NFL Refs. It’s all over the board. Good, then bad, then a make up call, then bad again. We all see things differently, but come on man….. I want to jab back but this theory is junk. Please go blog with your fellow “never landed on Moon”, “NBA draft lottery rigged”, and “MLB baseballs are juiced” guys.

You won’t be missed. To the rest of the common sense Viking fans…. bring it. Can’t wait for the weekend.
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All Vikings fans have 2 do is inundate the head of officiating on Twitter, demand fairness, & let him know you’re onto him. It works, believe me.